(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve received thousands of letters and emails from individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations this spring asking it to widen access to its Main Street Lending Program so more entities could tap it for funds to survive the recession triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Documents released by the Fed on Wednesday contained hundreds of pages of feedback on the unique program, through which the Fed is providing credit outside of the financial sector it typically backstops. Nonprofit organizations including the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, YMCA and California State University system pleaded with the Fed to allow nonprofits access to the program, which launched in late June but as of last week had not yet made a single loan.
(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
